Various scientific and patent publications are referred to herein. Each is incorporated by reference in its entirety.
Nanoscale gaps have application in circuits, transistors, chemical sensors, magnetic-spin valves, Josephson junctions, and bolometers. However, development of a reliable, reproducible fabrication process for nanoscale gaps (“nanogaps”) useful as contact electrodes is one of the major technological challenges faced in the development of molecular electronics.
While a number of approaches for fabricating such nanogaps have been advanced in recent years, there remains no viable method for fabricating a plurality of nanogaps with separations less than about 5 nm regime for producing integrated molecular circuits. Parallel production of such nanogaps would enable their use in applications requiring mass-produced devices. Accordingly, there is a need in the field for methods for producing nanogaps having separations of less than about 5 nm, ideally with high reproducibility.